One type of an inkjet apparatus circulates ink through an ink jet head and ejects the ink through a nozzle. As the ink does not stay in the vicinity of the nozzle for a long period of time, the condition of the ink can be maintained, and as a result ink of the desired condition can be discharged.
Such an ink jet apparatus includes an ink tank and a pump for circulating the ink, and according to the operation of the pump, the ink is supplied from the ink tank to the ink jet head and recovered from the ink jet head to the ink tank.
However, the mechanism to circulate the ink through the ink jet head, including the pump, needs a lot of space, and so the ink jet apparatus having such a mechanism according to the related art may be too large. Further, as the pump according to the related art employs a valve member fixed to a housing and the ink flows through a small opening in the valve member, a flow rate of the ink through the pump according to the related art may be insufficient to circulate the ink.